He said: "I think Franco might be working in the background regarding a lot of transfers.

"We've had discussions, yes, but it's sometimes a case of supply and demand. We've got fantastic players here at the club and if we were to lose no-one I wouldn't be shedding any tears.

"But we have to understand that there is pressures from the end of the season with it being the World Cup. Players want to play but my priority is to keep us as strong and competitive as possible, and I wouldn't be making any decisions based on any national team."

Pressed on whether he was prepared to allow players to leave in search of first-team action, he added: "Yes absolutely. As long as they're the right players and the ones that I don't want to take us forwards, then I'm happy.

"You can only go with a certain amount of players, obviously the pressure's on because it's a World Cup year for a lot of these players.

"It's important that they're playing. We can't guarantee that they're going to get maximum game time, but we certainly won't be leaving ourselves short. If no-one left I wouldn't be shedding any tears over that either."